Frosted Productions Blog

I have to say, I am totally obsessed with this senior photo shoot. When I have something in my head and it comes to life in the exact way I wanted it to, it is the best thing ever. When Witney called me we talked about some ideas and the horse thing just stuck. I was thinking something “whimsical” feeling and wanted a white horse to go with her white hair and then have her wear a cream/white dress. Well, Witney brought exactly what I was envisioning for the clothing, she did great.

She had mentioned that her Grandpa owned horses so I just assumed she had ridden before, nope, she had never even been on a horse! Her natural grace and beauty overshadowed any insecurities she had on the horse. She was so amazing to work with and I had so much fun.

There is something magical and whimsical about a white horse, she looks like she is in a fairytale.  Thanks to Maddy who is the horse, Willow’s owner… she was so patient and willing to do whatever we needed.  She was actually standing in some of the shots, but I took her out… you would never know though.  I hope you enjoy these as much as I do!  Love you Wit!

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We are finally done with the live chicks and bunnies for the year, wow it was fun though!  It’s the messiest shoot of the year, and I just kept hoping my assistant wouldn’t quit after cleaning up chick and bunny droppings on a daily basis.

My kids noses are not the only ones I wipe…

I thought I would start writing a little bit more about my editing process to educated customers on what goes into my editing and then I may also start posting some videos and tips for any photographers out there as well that would like to see how I do things on my photos.

I will continue to write posts about this, but let’s talk about nosey’s and toesy’s. ;) Some photographer’s “retouch” by adding a contrast boost to the photo, this is very different than the type of editing I do.  Every photographer has their own style, one is not better than the other, just preference.  My “style” has become very editorial, what I mean by that is many photos have a “commercial or catalog” feel to them.  It is very important to me though that the person in the photo still looks like themselves – it’s not like I’m taking freckles off of faces, that would be a “manipulation”… but okay, many people don’t realize I have lowered their shoulder, taken a little out under the chin or maybe taken in their leg, butt (should I call it “bum”, I never know) or something in a bit… the goal is that even my client, the person in the photo would never know, that it still is “them” but I’m bringing out the best in them.  Of course many of those things I just mentioned would NEVER need to be done on a child. ;)

Since I do so much child photography, I am not only taking out runny noses, but yes, I will even pick a boogers – does that make you sick?  I’m the one staring at it 10 times the size that it normally would be. ;)  It’s not like you would ever think, “I don’t want my kid edited” – they are not in that way, it is their natural beauty, their natural eye color (I never change the actual color of the eyes, just brighten them or put more light in them which changes them just like it would if you were in the sun). The reason you get photos is to capture a moment, in a children shoot I take 600-1000 photos, this is necessary to get CANDID shots, and if you are worrying about wiping their nose every second, the candid shot doesn’t happen.  I have even taken out pee from a little girl peeing her pants all down her legs for every edited photo (took hours) as we were in the mountains and there was no change of clothes.  For things like that you don’t want to simply “color or paint” in Photoshop over her jeans, then it wouldn’t look realistic, so I got many legs from shots before she peed (is peed a word?) and then used them for the edited shots.

So this post might be incredibly boring to most people reading if you have gotten this far, I just felt it may be interesting for people to realize I’m taking the red veins out of their eyes or lightening them.  As far as “toes” goes because this post is called “wiping noses and toeses” (I had to use “toes” because it rhymed with nose, not that the editing on them is anything related).  So many little kids especially newborns have bad circulation in their feet and in photos their feet get deep red or purple, in many photos I am matching them to their leg color.

All of the stuff takes tons of time, and when you get a photo from me, you are not going to notice that their feet color is fixed because it just looks natural.  You wouldn’t know there was one of one of those cute, crusty little boogies (sorry) up their nose that would have been in the photo because I was laying on the ground or that there was redness in the whites of the eyes because you or a child was tired.  And yes I do much more from skin smoothing, bags under the eyes, head swapping, finger nail polish removing, etc.  I have taken 50 pounds off of people before but that is another post…

- I have too much editing to do, so don’t have time to proof read this – sorry if there is typos.  Oh, and if you are wondering if I will ever post photos again to this blog, yes that is my goal… :)

OKAY THE CONTEST IS OVER – THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO PARTICIPATED!!!  PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU POST YOUR POINTS SO WE CAN FIND OUR WINNERS! :)  AND EVEN IF YOU HAVE LESS POINTS THAN THE TOP 3 PEOPLE – DON’T BE SCARED… POST THEM ANYWAY SO WE CAN SEE WHAT YOU DID! :)

I have a beautiful hair accessory line I need some editorial shots for in the next couple of weeks and I thought it would be fun to do a little contest to decide on who gets to model these for me.  You end up with the edited digital photos for free!  You don’t usually have any control over the selection process – but this time you have FULL control if you want to get free pics for yourself, or daughter.  Girls only for this as the hair accessory line is for girls, hehe. ;) 6 months – 18 years.

Oh and did I mention you get free hair and makeup as well by Color By Charisse?  The top 3 people with the most points are automatic winners!  Plus we may even take a few more winners on top of that!

This is for girls from 6 months old to 18 years old!  Get the most points and you are a guaranteed winner!  You need at least 100 points to qualify (it’s super easy if you understand the rules).

Here are the rules:

1. Make sure you like have “liked” the 2 pages on Facebook, ours: Frosted Productions on Facebook and also like Color By Charisse on Facebook (she will be doing the hair and makeup at the shoot).  This qualifies you to participate.

2. Comment on this blog post telling us you are entering the contest and then ask “Amber Williams Bauerle” (me) to be your friend on Facebook so we can check in your wall to confirm your likes, etc (you can only see some friends walls if you are a “friend”).

NOW YOU CAN START GETTING POINTS!  HERE ARE WAYS TO EARN POINTS:

3. Get your first points by “liking” photos on our Frosted Productions on Facebook wall!  For every “5 photos” that you like on our wall = 1 point

4. Follow us on Twitter @FrostedPro = 5 points

5. Share this post to your Facebook page and tell your friends to try and win as well = 2 points (maximum 10 times shared to wall)

6. “Recommend” our Frosted Productions on Facebook , even if we have never taken photos of you, you can still say something about our photos there is a “recommend” button on pages that you click to do this = 15 points  (make sure this is not just a “wall post” you have to click the “recommend to friends” button).

7. “Recommend” Color by Charisse on Facebook = 15 points

8. Now here is where you can earn tons of points quick, every time a friend simply clicks “like” on a photo you have shared you get a point (even if they don’t go like our page)!

Go to our Facebook page: Frosted Productions on Facebook  and pick a photo you love on our wall and share it to your wall and say (everything in bold is what you would post to your wall):

“PLEASE HELP ME WIN A FREE PHOTO SHOOT! I love this photo by http://www.frostedproductions.com because (and then write what you like about the photo you shared)“. Then write something like this (you can put it in your own words):  I am trying to win FREE editorial photos for (my daughter, myself, etc.) please “LIKE” this photo to help me win!!! THE MORE “LIKES” I GET ON THIS PHOTO TO MORE POINTS I EARN!  Also, if you go “LIKE” their page for me at http://www.facebook.com/frostedproductions I will get 3 extra points – so PLEASE go like their page!!!! And if you do go like their page for me, please comment on this post telling me that you did, so I can get credit!

*Every time you share a photo from our page to your wall and then write our website: http://www.frostedproductions.com with the shared photo = 1 point

*Every time a friend of yours clicks “like” on a photo you have shared from our wall = 1 point

*Every time a friend of yours “likes” our page = 3 points (remember to tell them to comment on your post telling you they liked our page so you can keep track)

9. Write a post on your wall with our Facebook link: http://www.facebook.com/frostedproductions and encourage your friends to go “like our page” = 1 point for posting this and then of course 3 points for each friend that does go and like our page.

10. Create an event that asks people to go like our page: http://www.facebook.com/frostedproductions and invite all of your friends to that event and “show the people you invite” so we can confirm (it is an option I think). = 30 points

11. Tweet our link http://www.frostedproductions.com and say something nice about our photos = 5 points for ever tweet (5 tweet max)

12. Follow us on YouTube here: Frosted Productions on YouTube = 5 points

13. Follow us on Pinterest here: Frosted Productions on Pinterest = 5 points

*REMEMBER MANY PEOPLE DON’T SEE YOUR WALL POSTS ON FACEBOOK, SO MAKE SURE TO POST LOTS OF TIMES EVEN A FEW TIMES A DAY IF YOU WANT TO MAKE SURE YOUR FRIENDS HELP YOU OUT!

*Here is an example:

- I liked 50 photos on Frosted Productions Facebook wall (1 point for every 5 likes that you do yourself on our wall) = 10 points

- I share a photo to my wall from Frosted Productions on Facebook and then get 60 of my friends to like that photo = 60 points

- 30 of those friends also went and liked Frosted Productions on Facebook and then commented on my post letting me know (2 points for each like on our page) = 60 points

- I share the same photo to my wall later that day and get another 10 likes = 10 points

- I share a different photo from Frosted Productions and get 70 likes = 70 points

So far I have 200 points!

3 people with the most points are automatic winners!!!  And then we may not stop there – we may pick a few more winners from different age groups in addition to the top 3 – wahoo!!!

Comment if you have any questions or don’t know how to do one of the “point earners”.  Contest ends on May 4th and we will coordinate with the winners on when the shoot date is – will be nice and simple, quick and easy but you are guaranteed to get AMAZING photos that could be placed right in a catalog. Also keep us posted and let us know how you are doing! ;)

Here are the first pics from the spring mini photo-shoots I did for Janie and Jack and PTP.  These little girls are so stunning it is unbelievable.  They are fraternal twins, and the cutest things I have ever seen. And if you are ever interested in a “Limited Edition” or (mini shoot) with us this is what you can get in 20 minutes with me.  And there were tons of other photos that were unedited too!  I think they ended up with over 100 photos in 20 minutes. Every kid is different, so sometimes you may not end up with quite as much, but usually PLENTY to make you VERY happy.

Save 10% on on PepperLu’s faux floor mats and photography props! This is a special offer for my fans!

*Make sure you read to the bottom of the post to also enter into a drawing to win a $50 gift card towards your next PepperLu purchase!!!

This post is not only to give you a discount on the BEST faux floor mats out there, but to also tell you a little bit about this company and their wonderful, amazing, perfect floor mats – that I personally LOVE. If you look at my old blog or this one, you would know that I normally don’t post about products and companies very often. But I couldn’t resist not sharing with my fans some info about these amazing faux floor mats – PLUS I’m going to give an exclusive discount to anyone who wants to purchase one, two, three… there are so many great ones, and after you use one you will be hooked!

The name of the company is “PepperLu”, if you are a photographer, I’m sure you have heard of them. They specialize in “photography props”, their main product being these amazing faux floor mats. Before I had ever used them I saw some photos of them, and I couldn’t believe how realistic they looked, I also loved that there was no glare. Then when I found out you could smush them into a washing machine, I was sold! It seems I constantly have props and equipment that are heavy, or wrinkle, or just awkward things for me to move around constantly during my shoots. PepperLu mats are my favorite faux floor mats to use because they are so easy to move around and manipulate! They are like a giant mouse pad, that is the best way to describe them.

And then just to top everything off their customer service is astounding, everything they do is quality and “current”. They know what photographer’s want.

I am offering a special discount on these until March 23, 2012!!!!! The discount code is, “frosted”. Whether you are a professional or somebody that just likes taking photos of your children in your own home, these mats would work for you. They are so durable, I have used them for multiple editorial shoots, newborn shoots, etc. and all of them still look brand new.

Below is a quick little video I threw together to show you how easy they are to use, plus different ways I use them for shoots, store them, etc. My husband was SUPER excited when I let him know he was going to be in this video (not really he would rather be snowboarding, and still can’t believe I’m actually posting this). It’s not some professional commercial or anything, but thought it might help for you to see them in action. And make sure you keep reading below to enter to win a $50 gift card from PepperLu!!

Again, if you want to purchase anything from them, go to Pepperlu.com and enter the code “frosted” for 10% off your entire purchase. And if you want to enter to win a $50 gift card from PepperLu, it is SOOOOOOOO easy, this is what you have to do:

1. Like their page by clicking the button below!

2. Tag them in a post on your Facebook wall that says, “I love Frosted Productions and PepperLu!”

*And you can make sure you do tag the post correct if you type it like this: “I love Frosted Productions and @PepperLu!” (Just in case you didn’t know, the “@” symbol before a name will tag it for you).

That’s it!  But if you really want to make sure you have a good chance at winning a $50 card from them, you can get extra entries by doing 2 more easy steps:

-I will give you extra entries if you put my Facebook page link on your page, so just copy and paste this: “I love @Frosted Productions and @PepperLu!”
-Then comment on this post and tell me what floor is your favorite! And if you don’t know the names of them, check them out here: http://www.pepperlu.com  Plus if you ARE a photographer or have another company website, this is a do-follow blog, so it helps to get your link on my page in the eyes of Google. ;)
And if you haven’t like my Facebook page yet – well then that would be great too! ;)

If you want to see more photos where I have used their mats, they are basically all over my website, I also used them in a recent editorial I did for Mia Belle Baby’s Spring Collection 2012, go see those pics here: Children Fashion Photography

I cannot believe the fall colors in this shoot.  When I found this spot this past Fall, I about died, I was screaming and jumping (really it was bad).  I was excited about the beautiful paths and Fall colors and didn’t think it could get better but kept walking and then I see this beautiful field that had the most beautiful red, orange and yellow fall colors on trees surrounding it.

This shoot was originally supposed to be with the whole family but at the last minute their dad couldn’t come and so we decided to do the shoot with just the kids.  It was fun, I think they got a workout because I made them run through the field a hundred times.  I also love when children, teens or whatever hold hands it is so cute, but that age of “children” isn’t really into “holding hands”.  Well, they still did for me a little. ;)

Take a second and look at this first shot – those colors are real, I really had never seen anything like it, for all the trees to be in full autumn bloom without leaves that had fallen very much – amazing.  I also love in this photo how the sun just barely touches the tops of their hair.

I really love coloring like this, instead of just a photo all in “sepia” it’s fun to have a little color as well, but if you go too bright on that red sweater it just would have been weird, because the photo isn’t about the sweater.

The photo below has a “film” over it, it is to give the photo a different feel when you look at it, it gives more of a dated, dreamy feel or something.  It has to be the right photo to do this to though.  Sometimes I’ll spend a ton of time editing 1 photo and afterwards look at it and have to just scrap it because that photo just didn’t work with the way I edited it.  I would never just blindly choose how to edit a photo, its usually after editing the first draft I just kind of “feel” what to do.  I sound like a total weirdo, I know, I promise I’m not that weird. ;)

I was thinking about this more today, because yesterday I met with a couple that is going to have their wedding photos done at The Grand America hotel, and we talked about how the styles of the photos needs to “fit” the environment.  You could take super funky shots with bright pink shoes with a really modern or contemporary vibe, even if the photo was properly taken and the couple looked good, the photo just still wouldn’t work.  This probably sounds like “well duh” (and yes I still do occasionally say the word “duh”), but I do see photos many times that have proper lighting, editing, posing, etc. but the photo just doesn’t really “speak to me”…. I hope anybody reading this has met me otherwise they really may think I’m  way out there or something.

I decided that I HAVE to start posting to my blog – or I am going to be so crazy behind that I will never get caught up.  Even though my website isn’t still where I want it and many sections still have missing photos, but I’m so lucky to be so busy that I can’t get to my site or blog, right??? ;) I’m going to try to make myself post a newer post and then an old post from my old blog every time I do a post to force me to migrate my old blog over to this one.

I love, love, love the soft white feeling that these photos have. The mom with the baby on the bed is so sweet because it really is what the first few weeks with your newborn is really like. I of course love the artistic photos of baby’s with wraps, hanging from branches, etc. But I think the ones with the mom on the bed have such a clean, classic editorial feel, plus they represent the “true” feeling of a newborn. I LOVE.

Wow…. I really could do engagement shoots every single day. I love how “in love” couples are when they are engaged… not that it changes when they are married for years (well maybe a little.)   :)

I love music, I love photos to music, having years of dance training, choreographing and coaching allows me to “choreograph” the photos to music.  You will know what I mean if you have seen my photo slide shows.  I can’t wait to edit their wedding day videography, such a stunningly beautiful couple.

These videos are so fun to play during a reception, open house, luncheon, etc.  It’s also fun to add dating photos to them as well and then have bridal photos all looping on a DVD playing over and over.

All of my wedding packages come with free DVD slideshows of the engagement, bridals and wedding photos for FREE!  Just a little bonus to have…  If you are interested in booking a wedding with us, make sure to fill out our wedding form to get prices and a call from me to go over the details!

Press Release about my children photography! :) Go check it out!